Claire Carden, 10, plays with Peepers, the family dog, at the Super Fresh art gallery in Novato, Calif. on Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2013. Claire's parents Matthew and Jennifer Carden own the food-themed gallery, which features Matthew's photographs.

Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle

Claire Carden, 10, plays with Peepers, the family dog, at the Super...

Twelve years ago, around the time photographer Matthew Carden and food stylist Jennifer Carden got married, they kicked around the idea of opening an art gallery that would combine their passions for art and food. "We even reserved a URL back then. I think it was FoodIsArt.com," says Matthew, who was photographing cookbooks and catalogs at the time.

It may have taken a little while to come to fruition, and it's done so under a slightly different name. But inside the Super Fresh Food Art Gallery, the couple's small, sunny contemporary gallery in Novato, the artwork on display goes well beyond the typical fruit bowl painting and invites viewers to reconsider their entire perception of food.

The Cardens, both 43, believe Super Fresh, which opened in April 2012, is the only art gallery in existence that focuses on work exploring contemporary food culture. "There have been food-themed art shows, and you can certainly think of still life paintings of food," says Jennifer, who is also a cookbook author. But Super Fresh shines a light on art that makes the viewer think about issues of sustainability and the craft of food production. Much of the work is characterized by sly humor that invites the viewer in on the joke.

Matthew's fine art photography, which features prominently in the gallery, is a case in point. By playing with scale and incorporating old toys into the scenes he photographs, viewers are drawn to study scenes shot in vibrant color close-ups, with miniature human figurines interacting with the foods like tiny explorers scaling natural geographic features. "My photos are supposed to invite you to look at things differently, to think playfully," says Matthew, whose childhood Hot Wheels track is set up in the back of the gallery near a cozy kid's corner full of books and beanbag chairs.

His "Lost World" triptychs loosely depict the stages of harvest, production and consumption of locally made foods, and are shot on site. The photos shot at Heidrun Meadery in Point Reyes Station, for instance, progress from diminutive farmers sitting atop a dripping honeycomb to swimmers sunbathing and splashing around the edge of a glass of mead. The "Fast Food, Fast Cars" series makes use of Matthew's Hot Wheels, with close-ups of the model cars taken in front of various fast food outlets as though they are full-size and parked out front, just waiting for their burgers.

"None of the photos are manipulated after that fact, and there's no Photoshop," Matthew says of his work. "My work is designed to slow people down and bring awareness to our relationship with food. Virtually everything we do functions around food, so much so that we don't even think about it."

Other artists currently featured in the gallery include watercolor artist Cara Brown, whose close-up, glistening paintings of fruit tarts and eclairs will have stomachs rumbling. Mosaic artist Jim Bachor, inspired by the way mosaic was used to capture everyday life in Pompeii, created a series of mosaics memorializing modern foodstuffs, like a cup of Starbucks coffee and Ho Hos. Works in Bachor's "Super Realistic" series include a full serving of the food depicted, like Cheetos and Doritos, ground up and mixed into the mortar.

Jennifer, who with Matthew and their 10-year-old daughter live just around the corner from Super Fresh, says the little gallery has big ambitions for 2014, including new exhibits every other month and an event series. They're experimenting with a new "Always Open" policy, whereby visitors simply text to let the Cardens know they're interested in stopping by, perhaps on their way to or from Wine Country. "Novato is perfect as an artistic hub in the Bay Area, because it's central to San Francisco, Sonoma and Napa," Jennifer says.

The couple is excited that their vision of food as art has gotten a positive reception from foodies, designers, collectors and the Novato community. "Food makes art accessible," Matthew says. "The connection that people have with food is something unique. It's a common language."